Honda invests in EV charging provider Ubitricity
The Berlin-based streetlamp charging startup has confirmed our early report of Honda participating in their most recent funding round with a total pot of 20 million euros.
Next to Honda, the existing stakeholders EDF and Siemens contributed to Ubitricity’s latest round of funding. The fresh capital will be used by the lamppost charging infrastructure provider to develop their mobile metering technology.
A few weeks ago, changes in the German commercial register had already indicated that Honda had taken a stake in the Berlin-based charging infrastructure company. According to these reports, Honda has secured almost 15 per cent of the shares in Ubitricity. However, none of the companies has disclosed any actual figures on Hoda’s involvement. Ubitricity CEO Dr Frank Pawlitschek merely stated that with Honda they have another strong partner on board “who shares our vision of a smart electric vehicle”.
The fresh capital should enable the company founded in 2008, to accelerate growth and further develop its mobile metering technology, that at the moment comes in the form of a smart cable. The new approach together with Honda on board as a carmaker could relocate the electricity meter inside the car, which would allow control over energy data in conformity with calibration law and the contract with the customer to be attached to the vehicle and not to roadside infrastructure. In any case, mobile metering technology “allows councils, real estate owners, fleet and fuel card operators as well as end-users to benefit from significantly lower charging infrastructure costs, removal of the need for dedicated parking bays and optimised pricing,” says Ubitricity.
Also, the Berliner company wants to accelerate the expansion of charging infrastructure, especially lantern charging points and charging points in real estate facilities in Great Britain, Germany, France and the USA. The corresponding systems are also to be further developed for the mass market and the prerequisites created for services across the entire V1G and V2G spectrum.
According to their statement, Ubitricity has “made significant progress” in the development of its mobile metering technology, market presence and market access, leading the way in London for example. Also, the company is pushing ahead with the installation of charging stations in several German cities as part of the “Clean Air Immediate Programme” through which more than 3,000 charging points are being built in Berlin, Hamburg and Dortmund alone.
Additional reporting by Nora Manthey.
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